the divine comedy(神曲)-第5章
按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页,按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页,按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部!
————未阅读完?加入书签已便下次继续阅读!
Athwart the tenebrous air pour down amain;
Noisome the earth is; that receiveth this。
Cerberus; monster cruel and uncouth;
With his three gullets like a dog is barking
Over the people that are there submerged。
Red eyes he has; and unctuous beard and black;
And belly large; and armed with claws his hands;
He rends the spirits; flays; and quarters them。
Howl the rain maketh them like unto dogs;
One side they make a shelter for the other;
Oft turn themselves the wretched reprobates。
When Cerberus perceived us; the great worm!
His mouths he opened; and displayed his tusks;
Not a limb had he that was motionless。
And my Conductor; with his spans extended;
Took of the earth; and with his fists well filled;
He threw it into those rapacious gullets。
Such as that dog is; who by barking craves;
And quiet grows soon as his food he gnaws;
For to devour it he but thinks and struggles;
The like became those muzzles filth…begrimed
Of Cerberus the demon; who so thunders
Over the souls that they would fain be deaf。
We passed across the shadows; which subdues
The heavy rain…storm; and we placed our feet
Upon their vanity that person seems。
They all were lying prone upon the earth;
Excepting one; who sat upright as soon
As he beheld us passing on before him。
〃O thou that art conducted through this Hell;〃
He said to me; 〃recall me; if thou canst;
Thyself wast made before I was unmade。〃
And I to him: 〃The anguish which thou hast
Perhaps doth draw thee out of my remembrance;
So that it seems not I have ever seen thee。
But tell me who thou art; that in so doleful
A place art put; and in such punishment;
If some are greater; none is so displeasing。〃
And he to me: 〃Thy city; which is full
Of envy so that now the sack runs over;
Held me within it in the life serene。
You citizens were wont to call me Ciacco;
For the pernicious sin of gluttony
I; as thou seest; am battered by this rain。
And I; sad soul; am not the only one;
For all these suffer the like penalty
For the like sin;〃 and word no more spake he。
I answered him: 〃Ciacco; thy wretchedness
Weighs on me so that it to weep invites me;
But tell me; if thou knowest; to what shall come
The citizens of the divided city;
If any there be just; and the occasion
Tell me why so much discord has assailed it。〃
And he to me: 〃They; after long contention;
Will come to bloodshed; and the rustic party
Will drive the other out with much offence。
Then afterwards behoves it this one fall
Within three suns; and rise again the other
By force of him who now is on the coast。
High will it hold its forehead a long while;
Keeping the other under heavy burdens;
Howe'er it weeps thereat and is indignant。
The just are two; and are not understood there;
Envy and Arrogance and Avarice
Are the three sparks that have all hearts enkindled。〃
Here ended he his tearful utterance;
And I to him: 〃I wish thee still to teach me;
And make a gift to me of further speech。
Farinata and Tegghiaio; once so worthy;
Jacopo Rusticucci; Arrigo; and Mosca;
And others who on good deeds set their thoughts;
Say where they are; and cause that I may know them;
For great desire constraineth me to learn
If Heaven doth sweeten them; or Hell envenom。〃
And he: 〃They are among the blacker souls;
A different sin downweighs them to the bottom;
If thou so far descendest; thou canst see them。
But when thou art again in the sweet world;
I pray thee to the mind of others bring me;
No more I tell thee and no more I answer。〃
Then his straightforward eyes he turned askance;
Eyed me a little; and then bowed his head;
He fell therewith prone like the other blind。
And the Guide said to me: 〃He wakes no more
This side the sound of the angelic trumpet;
When shall approach the hostile Potentate;
Each one shall find again his dismal tomb;
Shall reassume his flesh and his own figure;
Shall hear what through eternity re…echoes。〃
So we passed onward o'er the filthy mixture
Of shadows and of rain with footsteps slow;
Touching a little on the future life。
Wherefore I said: 〃Master; these torments here;
Will they increase after the mighty sentence;
Or lesser be; or will they be as burning?〃
And he to me: 〃Return unto thy science;
Which wills; that as the thing more perfect is;
The more it feels of pleasure and of pain。
Albeit that this people maledict
To true perfection never can attain;
Hereafter more than now they look to be。〃
Round in a circle by that road we went;
Speaking much more; which I do not repeat;
We came unto the point where the descent is;
There we found Plutus the great enemy。
Inferno: Canto VII
〃Pape Satan; Pape Satan; Aleppe!〃
Thus Plutus with his clucking voice began;
And that benignant Sage; who all things knew;
Said; to encourage me: 〃Let not thy fear
Harm thee; for any power that he may have
Shall not prevent thy going down this crag。〃
Then he turned round unto that bloated lip;
And said: 〃Be silent; thou accursed wolf;
Consume within thyself with thine own rage。
Not causeless is this journey to the abyss;
Thus is it willed on high; where Michael wrought
Vengeance upon the proud adultery。〃
Even as the sails inflated by the wind
Involved together fall when snaps the mast;
So fell the cruel monster to the earth。
Thus we descended into the fourth chasm;
Gaining still farther on the dolesome shore
Which all the woe of the universe insacks。
Justice of God; ah! who heaps up so many
New toils and sufferings as I beheld?
And why doth our transgression waste us so?
As doth the billow there upon Charybdis;
That breaks itself on that which it encounters;
So here the folk must dance their roundelay。
Here saw I people; more than elsewhere; many;
On one side and the other; with great howls;
Rolling weights forward by main force of chest。
They clashed together; and then at that point
Each one turned backward; rolling retrograde;
Crying; 〃Why keepest?〃 and; 〃Why squanderest thou?〃
Thus they returned along the lurid circle
On either hand unto the opposite point;
Shouting their shameful metre evermore。
Then each; when he arrived there; wheeled about
Through his half…circle to another joust;
And I; who had my heart pierced as it were;
Exclaimed: 〃My Master; now declare to me
What people these are; and if all were clerks;
These shaven crowns upon the left of us。〃
And he to me: 〃All of them were asquint
In intellect in the first life; so much
That there with measure they no spending made。
Clearly enough their voices bark it forth;
Whene'er they reach the two points of the circle;
Where sunders them the opposite defect。
Clerks those were who no hairy covering
Have on the head; and Popes and Cardinals;
In whom doth Avarice practise its excess。〃
And I: 〃My Master; among such as these
I ought forsooth to recognise some few;
Who were infected with these maladies。〃
And he to me: 〃Vain thought thou entertainest;
The undiscerning life which made them sordid
Now makes them unto all discernment dim。
Forever shall they come to these two buttings;
These from the sepulchre shall rise again
With the fist closed; and these with tresses shorn。
Ill giving and ill keeping the fair world
Have ta'en from them; and placed them in this scuffle;
Whate'er it be; no words adorn I for it。
Now canst thou; Son; behold the transient farce
Of goods that are committed unto Fortune;
For which the human race each other buffet;
For all the gold that is beneath the moon;
Or ever has been; of these weary souls
Could never make a single one repose。〃
〃Master;〃 I said to him; 〃now tell me also
What is this Fortune which thou speakest of;
That has the world's goods so within its clutches?〃
And he to me: 〃O creatures imbecile;
What ignorance is this which doth beset you?
Now will I have thee learn my judgment of her。
He whose omniscience everything transcends
The heavens created; and gave w